2008 will always be remembered as the year that Hurricane Ike slammed into Galveston Island with its deadly and destructive tidal surge. In fact, it is doubtful if we will really remember too much else about the year and probably many of us just want to forget it completely!

Still, the last day of the year is a good time to look at some of the weather events that Islanders experienced during the past 12 months.

2008 was a year of contrasts. January started out very wet with 6.04 inches of rain (making it the wettest January since 2001), but the year soon turned very dry. A prolonged drought set in at the beginning of February and only 4.14 additional inches of rain were to fall from February 1 through June 30, making it one of the driest five-month periods in Galveston history. Only 0.68 inch of rain fell during the 61-day period from April 1 through May 30, making it the driest two-month period since 1998.

June was hot as well (averaging 84.9 degrees or 2.7 degrees above normal), making it the hottest June in Galveston since 1881 and the third hottes June ever.

Fortunately, July and August turned out wetter and milder. 9.78 inches of rain fell during these two months, helping to erase the effects of the spring drought and we had the mildest August on the Island since 2001, though you have to realize that it is all relative and even a mild August is still pretty muggy here.

August also brought a hurricane scare to the Island as Tropical Storm Edouard formed in the Gulf and moved towards southeast Texas. Fortunately, Edouard's peak winds only reached 65-mph before landfall and the storm moved east of the Island, bringing only a few brief squalls and slightly elevated tides to the Island. Peak wind-speed in the city during Edouard was only 32-mph with 43-mph gusts. Only 0.60 inch of rain fell at Scholes Field during the storm, though parts of the East End had totals of 1 1/2 inch during the storm (A squall races across the Strand during Tropical Storm Edouard. Photo courtesy of Stan Blazyk)

September, of course, brought us Ike. No need to elaborate on that storm here. We all will remember it for a long, long time to come. At any rate, Galveston saw its most destructive hurricane since 1915 and possibly the most significant (in terms of affecting the local economy) since 1900. More will be written about Ike as we gather more information and can put things in perspective. Needless to say, Ike was a pest indeed!

On the better side, late September and October brought cool, dry weather to the area, making recovery efforts a little easier and making living conditions a little more tolerable for those of us without electicity or cooling. October, 2008 was the coolest since 1980 in Galveston, averaging almost 3 degrees below normal. Cooler than normal weather persisted through November and into December.

Meanwhile, 2008 brought another December "surprise" to the area as big snowflakes floated down on the Island on the night of December 10. While the snow didn't stick in many areas, a few areas had lawns sported white coats briefly during the height of the storm and a few areas on the mainland actually had a fairly substantial snow cover. Still, the 1 inch officially recorded at Scholes Field gave the city only its third measurable December snowfall ever!

At any rate, I hope that each of you are doing well as we end this year and head into another one. Let's hope that our weather in 2009 is boring.....especially when it comes to tropical acitivity and that all of you have a very good New Year!!